Tuesday Ritual

Since time immemorial my mom and I've had a sort of a ritual of visiting the temple every Tuesday. I don't know wheather its our way of saying that we are still spiritual in the race of modern life or a way to seek solace and strength for a brief moment, to become strong enough to face what lies beyond those walls. But there is one particular sight that I've never been courageous enough to face- that is the spectacle of seeing so many underpriveledged children lined outside the temple, looking at every person passing by with hopeful eyes, pleading with them to drop a morsel of food from the huge packet that they carry in the name of ' prasad' so that may be tonight they wouldnt have to sleep hungry.

One thing that always amazes me about them is that despite the fact that a lot of them are not even sure whether or not they will manage to get a meal tonight or not, don't have a roof over their head but they still manage to do something that even we don't- smile against all odds. They run around bare foot playing with each other as if daring the miseries of destiny to catch up with them. In contrast to them we sit around in lethargy and blame our destiny and our bad luck even if we acquire a cold. What misery we have to bear !

Sharing is a concept that for many of us is only a topic of discussion to be held in moral education classes for young children because of course all sensible people know that in today's competitive and fast moving world each one is expected to fetch for himself. Right ? But there are still those innocent children who haven't been corrupted by these so called ideals of the modern world. They still divide a piece of bread into a number of small pieces if they see that their brother is hungry and without food. Oh how foolish such trivial details seem to us, but these trivial details are the very reason for their blissful existence in the midst of sorrow, while forgetting such virtues is the very reason for our not-so-happy existence in the world despite the fact that we possess all the worldly possesions that are supposed to satisfy our need for happiness. Then why our we not happy ??

We tend to give the most importance to the issues of least significance. We are always so preoccupied with counting the victories of others that we forget to enjoy our own achievements. Its time we learnt from those children that happiness is nothing but a state of mind. Its all within us, its just a matter of searching for it. Once you look within yourself you'll find answers to all your questions, solutions to all your problems and a state of ecstacy that no amount of money or materialistic possessions could ever provide you with. Let the quest for happiness begin and let it begin within you.